Means for suspending cables from mine roof

ABSTRACT

A hanger for supporting cables or the like adjacent the roof of a mine is shaped for ready attachment to a mine roof plate held by a safety bolt embedded in the roof material. The hanger is provided with an adjustable keeper serving to hold the supported cable on the hanger.

nited States Patent [191 Gillstrap MEANS FOR SUSPENDING CABLES FROM MINEROOF [76] Inventor: Peteii M. Gillstrap, 325 Walker St.,

Hartford, Ky.

22 Filed: Feb. 22, 1972 21 App]. No.: 228,218

[52] US. Cl. 248/58, 248/68 R;7l;73;218;317 [51] Int. Cl. F161 3/00 [58]Field of Search 248/58, 339, 68,

248/317, 322, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 324, 49, DIG. 3, 218, 71, 73

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,862,368 12/1958 Dempsey248/D1G. 3 2,933,277 4/1960 Messier 248/D1G. 003 1,767,897 6/1930 Romanet a1. 248/339 X 2,026,312 12/1935 l-louts 248/49 3,620,490 11/1971Roberts 248/58 Jan. 15, 1974 2,854,824 10/1958 Currey et al n 248/58 X2,923,508 2/1960 Daugherty 248/58 2,385,296 9/1945 Moore 248/49 X2,450,147 9/1948 Lawry 248/68 R 2,243,387 5/1941 Livingston 248/90 XFOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 136,691 12/1919 Great Britain 248/58708,662 '5/1954 Great Britain 248/D1G. 3

Primary ExaminerRamon S. Britts Assistant Examiner-Rodney H. BonckAttorney-William E. Sherwood 5 7] ABSTRACT A hanger for supportingcables or the like adjacent the roof of amine is shaped for readyattachment to a mine roof plate held by a safety bolt embedded in' theroof material. The hanger is provided with an adjustable keeper servingto hold the supported cable on the hanger.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures MEANS FOR SUSPENDING CABLES FROM MINE ROOFBACKGROUND or THE INVENTION In underground mining operations many formsof electrical cables, hydraulic hoses, compressed air lines, wiring orthe like (all collectively herein called cables) are used with themining equipment. Unless such cables are positioned in a proper spacethey may interfere with the mining operation and indeed may contributeto an unsafe operation.

The use of roof bolts and plates for improving safety in such mines alsois widely practiced and it has heretofore been suggested that theseoverhead members can be used as a means for supporting the cables. Tothe best of my knowledge, however, these suggestions have not beenentirely satisfactory since they do not meet the requirement for rapidand easy adjustment of the cable after it is once suspended in place.Frequently the cable has to be extended or retracted as the miningoperation proceeds, and in a poorly lighted, damp and dirty confinedmine passage the adjustment of the suspended cable may require heavyphysical exertion on the part of the operator unless the hangerconstruction is properly designed. v i

It is these and other disadvantages of conventional cable supports whichit is a purpose of the present invention to overcome.

SUMMARY The cable suspension means of the present invention comprises ahanger which detachably engages in an aperture within a roof supportingplate held in place with a roof bolt. The hanger may be engaged with theplate by rotation in a vertical plane and beadjusted with respect to theplate by rotation in a horizontal plane. A keeper is adjustably affixedto the hanger and serves to hold a suspended cable in proper place onthe hanger.

Among the objects of the invention are the provision of a simple andinexpensive cable hanger which may be used in combination withconventional mine roof supporting means and which may be installed orremoved at any time without requiring adjustment of the roof supportingmeans; the provision of a cable hanger which is rotatable in ahorizontal plane with respect to a mine roof supporting plate to whichit is attachable; the provision of a cable hanger having a keeper'whichis readily adjustable to permit cables to be emplaced on or removed fromthe hanger and to hold a cable in place thereon; and the provision ofacable hanger having'a keeper which may be wedged in place to hold acable suspended on the hanger.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become moreapparent as the description proceeds and when considered in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawing in which FIG. 1 is a side elevation viewshowing the hanger installed and supporting a plurality of cables.

FIG. 2 is a view to a larger scale and taken at right angle to FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the installed hanger taken from the undersidethereof, and

FIG. 4 is a sectional detail view showing the engagement of the hangerwith the mine roof plate.

Referring first to FIG. 1 a conventional safety bolt is embedded in thematerial 11 forming the mine roof and has the usual bolt head 12 whichis adapted to be 2 tightened with a torque wrench in accordance withstandard safety regulations.

A plate 13 with a substantial surface bearing against the exposed faceof the material 11 is pushed against that material as the bolt istightened and thus acts to support the adjacent portion of the roof Thisplate, in accordance with the invention, is provided with an offsetsection 14 having an aperture 15 therein and into and from which thehanger may be readily inserted or removed.

'The hanger is of simple and inexpensive construction and preferablyconstitutes a member having an elongated generally horizontal portion 16merging at one end into a shorter vertical portion 17 and may be formedof a round metal rod bent into a generally L- shaped configuration andthreaded at its distal end 18. If desired, the metal rod may be coatedwith electrical insulation or may itself be'formed from an insulatingplastic material. As a feature of the invention, the end of the hangerportion 17 terminates in a somewhat flattened re-entrant hook-like lip19 which, as best seen in FIG. 4, may be rotated into or out ofengagement with the plate by movement in a vertical plane and may berotated with respect to the plate by movement in a horizontal plane.Moreover, the length of the lip is such that when the hanger is insertedthrough aperture 15 the weight of the hanger is sufficient to hold it inplace until such time as the operator desires to handle the cablesuspension.

The length of hanger portion leg 17 is sufficient to provide a shallowspace 20 adjacent the roof' and into which one or more cables 21, 22 maybe housed. If desired, this space may have a sufficient depth so that acable such as 21 may he slid over the companion cable 22 if one of thecables is to be moved without removal of the other. In order to preventundesired dislodgment ofa cable resting on the leg 16 of the hanger, asuitable keeper is provided. This keeper may take various forms withoutdeparting from the invention, but should be constructed so thatvibration, pull on cable, or the like will not permit a cable to beunintentionally dislodged.

A preferred form of keeper may comprise a simple rod 30 including at oneend an interiorally threaded nut 31 in engagement with the threaded end18 of the leg 16 of the hanger. The keeper rod normally will have alength greater than the length of the portion 17 of the hanger so thatwhen suitably rotated the end 32 will wedge against the exposed surfaceof the mine roof. As

will be understood, the exposed surface of the mine roof will normallybe irregular and should the wedging end of the keeper rod meet anobstruction it is a simple matter to rotate the leg portion 17 in theaperture 15 of the plate thereby to permit the keeper rod to avoid suchobstruction.

The advantages of the present invention will be apparent to theseaccustomed to working with conventional cable suspensions in mines orthe like. For example, each mine roof supporting plate may be installedin the customary manner without regard to whether it will be used withthe hanger. If so used, the hanger will be merely rotated in ahorizontal plane to align it with respect to the direction in which thecable is to extend.

Moreover, the hangers are reusable and may be detached from the platewithout disturbing the plate in any way.

Having thus described a preferred form of cable hanger and a typicalusage thereof in combination with a mine roof supporting plate, it willbe understood that the invention may be embodied in forms and usagesother than that so described.

I claim:

l. A cable hanger adapted for assembly upon a stationary generallyhorizontally arranged plate having an offset section with a generallyvertical aperture of uniform diameter therein, said hanger comprising amemher having an elongated generally horizontal portion merging at oneend into a shorter vertical portion, the end of said vertical portionbeing of a size permitting ready insertion or withdrawal through saidaperture and terminating in a re-entrant lip portion adapted to restupon the upper surface of said offset plate section and to be rotatedhorizontally within said aperture without disengagement from said plate,and a keeper struction wherein said other end of said horizontal portionof said hanger is threaded and said keeper comprises a rod having athreaded nut in engagement with said threaded end of said horizontalportion, said keeper being rotatable in a generally vertical plane.

2. A cable hanger as defined in claim 1 wherein the length of saidkeeper rod is greater than the length of said vertical portion of saidhanger member.

1. A cable hanger adapted for assembly upon a stationary generallyhorizontally arranged plate having an offset section with a generallyvertical Aperture of uniform diameter therein, said hanger comprising amember having an elongated generally horizontal portion merging at oneend into a shorter vertical portion, the end of said vertical portionbeing of a size permitting ready insertion or withdrawal through saidaperture and terminating in a re-entrant lip portion adapted to restupon the upper surface of said offset plate section and to be rotatedhorizontally within said aperture without disengagement from said plate,and a keeper adjustably attached to the other end of said horizontalportion of the hanger and movable between a first position at which acable can be inserted laterally upon said horizontal portion and asecond position at which the cable is secured against lateral removalfrom said horizontal portion, said hanger and keeper having aconstruction wherein said other end of said horizontal portion of saidhanger is threaded and said keeper comprises a rod having a threaded nutin engagement with said threaded end of said horizontal portion, saidkeeper being rotatable in a generally vertical plane.
 2. A cable hangeras defined in claim 1 wherein the length of said keeper rod is greaterthan the length of said vertical portion of said hanger member.